Mubadala Development, the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund (SWF), is fighting to avoid losses on its $2 billion investment in Eike Batista’s companies as the former billionaire seeks to save his commodity empire from collapse.
The fund is owed $1.5 billion after converting a preferred equity investment in Batista’s EBX Group into debt, three people with knowledge of the matter said last month. That amount is secured by Batista assets, one of the people said, asking not to be named as details are private. EBX also last month agreed to “redeem” a portion of Mubadala’s original investment………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Qatar could benefit from copying a dual-track investment model used by other states with sovereign wealth funds. The Qatar Investment Authority is under the supervision of a new Emir, and changes in the way the eight-year-old fund operates are expected after PriceWaterhouseCoopers and McKinsey were hired to review its internal operations.
Organising its estimated $100bn of assets around two distinct investment approaches could be the way forward. The QIA has stakes in domestic entities but most of its assets are abroad and held through an array of subsidiaries that look like autonomous funds in their own right………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The International Finance Corp., the World Bank’s private-lending arm, plans a 25 percent boost in Nigeria investments to $2 billion by next year, said Solomon Adegbie-Quaynor, the country manager.
“We are partnering with the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority and also looking at institutions to work with for activities in banks, power, gas, transport and agriculture,” he said. Power will be an important industry for IFC investment “as it is identified as largest constraint to private-sector growth” in Nigeria, he added. The Nigerian Sovereign Investment authority manages the country’s sovereign-wealth fund………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Government Pension Fund of Norway is the largest in the world. On July 2013 the amount of assets in the fund reached $740 billion. The fund is managed by the private sector arm of the Central Bank of Norway (Norges Bank Investment Management, NBIM).
According to statements by Yngve Slyngstad, head of NBIM, the fund is gradually increasing the share of investment in emerging markets, while reducing the share of investment in European assets. In addition, structure of the bond portfolio changes: the fund will mainly invest in bonds of countries with low debt load………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Norwegian elections are creeping up in what could impact the realm of sovereign wealth funds. Norway’s Conservative Party leader Erna Solberg has a chance of winning as polls suggest the opposition may win parliamentary elections. Politicians often develop economic policies; Erna Solberg seeks to fully review Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) if she wins.
One floated idea is splitting up Norway’s sovereign wealth fund. Conservative politicians in Norway contend creating competition among domestic public funds is a good thing………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Central bank hopes agency separate from sovereign wealth fund would improve returns on its US$3.5 trillion reserves, sources say. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) is working on a plan to establish a new government agency to invest its US$3.5 trillion of foreign exchange reserves abroad more efficiently.
The new agency would be in addition to the China Investment Corp (CIC), the nation’s sovereign wealth fund. The information was given to the South China Morning Post by two sources close to the central bank……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC and Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi are considering making a bid for European nuclear fuel maker Urenco, Britain’s Sunday Timesreported, without citing sources.
Britain wants to privatise its one-third stake in uranium enrichment firm Urenco. German utilities E.ON and RWE , who together own a third, also want to sell, but the Dutch government is debating what to do with its 33 percent stake………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Neiman Marcus Group Inc. hired banks to work on an initial public offering, said people familiar with the matter, after the luxury retailer spent the summer exploring a sale to a sovereign wealth fund.
Neiman reached out to sovereign-wealth funds in an effort to find an outright buyer for the luxury retail chain to no avail, one of the people said. The retailer held discussions with the Qatar Investment Authority about buying the chain or possibly acquiring only Neiman’s Bergdorf Goodman department stories, but the two sides couldn’t agree on terms, this person said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Alternative asset classes are piquing the interest of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), but asset managers will have to work hard to win any of their money. A report from research specialists Cerulli has found 64% of asset managers believe alternatives will attract the most mandates from SWFs over the next 12 months.
However, they believed SWFs would only be interested in private equity or infrastructure assets. None of the asset managers questioned believed the funds would allocate more to hedge funds, commodities, or any other sort of alternative………………………………………..Full Article: Source